Tanner Gentry (born December 18, 1994) is a former American
wide receiver
A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
. He played
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
at
Wyoming
Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
, and signed with the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
as an undrafted free agent in 2017.
High school career
Gentry played
high school football
High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...
at
Grandview High School (Aurora, Colorado) where he was selected by The Denver Post to the All-Colorado team for all classifications and First Team All-State Class 5A as a wide receiver in 2012 as a Senior.
College career
Coming out of high school, Gentry was ranked as the number 15 recruit in the state of Colorado by
Rivals.com and 23rd in the state of Colorado by
247Sports.com
247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount.
The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite bei ...
.
In 2014, Gentry appeared in all 12 games with three starts receiving for 435 yards and two touchdowns for the Cowboys.
In 2015, Gentry appeared in only seven games before suffering a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. At the time of the injury, Gentry was leading the Mountain West in receiving yards.
In 2016, Gentry was selected to the 2016 All-Mountain West Second Team with 72 receptions for 1,326 yards and 14 touchdowns, marking the first time since 2005 that a Cowboy receiver had 1,000 receiving yards in a single season. He was quarterback
Josh Allen
Joshua Patrick Allen (born May 21, 1996) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wyoming Cowboys football, Wyoming Cow ...
's top target that year.
Professional career
Chicago Bears
Gentry signed with the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
as an undrafted free agent on May 11, 2017. He was waived on September 2, and was signed to the Bears' practice squad the next day. On September 12, Gentry was promoted to the active roster. On September 17, in the 29–7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Gentry had two receptions for 27 yards in his NFL debut in Week 2. He was waived on September 19, 2017 and was re-signed to the Bears' practice squad the next day. He was promoted back to the active roster on October 11, 2017. He was waived on November 11, 2017 and was re-signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Bears on January 1, 2018.
On September 1, 2018, Gentry was waived by the Bears and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Bears on January 8, 2019.
On August 31, 2019, Gentry was waived by the Bears.
New York Guardians
In October 2019, Gentry was selected by the
New York Guardians
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
in the third round of the
2020 XFL Draft. He was placed on
injured reserve
The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...
before the start of the season on January 21, 2020. He was activated from injured reserve on February 26, 2020. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.
Buffalo Bills
On January 4, 2021, Gentry was signed to the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...
practice squad. The move reunited Gentry with his former Wyoming teammates Josh Allen and
Jacob Hollister. On January 26, 2021, Gentry signed a reserves/futures contract with the Bills.
On August 31, 2021, Gentry was released from the Bills and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. After the Bills were eliminated in the
Divisional Round of the 2021 playoffs, he signed a reserve/future contract on January 24, 2022.
On August 30, 2022, Gentry was waived by the Bills and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was released on January 17, 2023.
Toronto Argonauts
On February 21, 2023, it was announced that Gentry had been signed by the
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...
.
References
External links
Toronto Argonauts bioWyoming Cowboys bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gentry, Tanner
1994 births
Living people
American football wide receivers
Buffalo Bills players
Chicago Bears players
New York Guardians players
Players of American football from Aurora, Colorado
Players of Canadian football from Colorado
Toronto Argonauts players
Wyoming Cowboys football players